I think that there should be some benefit from being 2nd/3rd place and all the way down.
A couple of not well thought out ideas:
The point based system that is set up now, but instead of the winner taking points from everyone you only take points from people you conquer and award bonus points for coming in a certain place.
A system set up where each place awards/penalizes a set amount of points based on where you finish. Could be modified by amount of people in the game or game type.
As it is now a person that has less points than I starting a game will lose less points than me no matter where we end up (except for winning that is). Game 871 shows that I lost 1 more point than a person I took out.
I know that 1 point is nitpicking but it adds up. Especially when your 'score' reflects how 'good' you are in this game. I don't think I am great at this game but you'd think I was terrible with how quickly my score is plummeting
Now the problem with implementing a point system based on end game place has been noted in the previous post. People will play differently to get whatever points they can.
Last not thought out idea as this post is running long, maybe a point per round that you were active in the game.....errrr nevermind this is definitely not a good idea.